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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24968752">Fighting to Survive</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/jo_saltz/pseuds/jo_saltz'>jo_saltz</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Legacies (TV 2018), The Maze Runner (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Angst and Tragedy, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Leadership, Loss of Innocence, Murder, Running Away, Survival</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 11:21:53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>14,138</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24968752</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/jo_saltz/pseuds/jo_saltz</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Arriving at the center of a maze Hope Mikaelson does everything she can to find a way out but she can't do it alone. Lucky for her, she partners up with a pretty brunette who knows the maze very well.</p><p>Or </p><p>A Maze Runner au but Hosie.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hope Mikaelson &amp; Josie Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman, Milton "MG" Greasley &amp; Lizzie Saltzman</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>142</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Box?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She wakes up gasping for air and spitting out water. She slowly gets up and looks around finding herself in cage moving up. She moves back down on her knees. Feeling nauseous.</p><p>"Hello?" She asks coughing and gasping for air. </p><p>There is a noise in one of the boxes next to her. She slowly lifts the cover and a pig jumps up at her making her fall back on a stack of barrels.</p><p>She quickly climbs the barrels scared that the pig would come out and then bangs on the top of the cage.</p><p>"Hey! Hey! Help me!" She screams. </p><p>The ceiling comes closer and she jumps off the barrels as soon as the cage crashes to the top and a red light covers the place. It turns green when a buzzer sound rings around her.</p><p>Then darkness returns. She is on the cage floor in the darkness gasping for air. Out of no where a bright light blinds her from the top of the cage. </p><p>She puts her arm to cover the light and squints her eyes. Once her eyes adjusts to the light she sees a bunch of people surrounding the cage. They are all chuckling as they open the cage.</p><p>"Go get her." One of the people say. </p><p>A girl with raven hair jumps down into the cage. And looks at her with a serious expression.</p><p>"Day one, Greenie." The short haired girl grabs her by the shirt roughly and pulls her out if the cage. "Rise and shine." The girl says throwing her on the ground.</p><p>Everyone surrounds her, all of them talking at the same time and laughing at her. </p><p>"She looks like a slopper to me." A guy says</p><p>"I could use some help in the kitchen."another guy says causing everyone to laugh.</p><p>She panicks and her breathing grows heavier while looking at the people around her. She quickly gets up, shoving past them, and she begins to run as fast as she can.</p><p>"Oh!" Everyone yell amused.</p><p>"Hey! We got a runner!!" A guy yells but she doesn't stop running, she keeps running like her life depended on it.</p><p>She keeps going and suddenly trips over something hard causing her to fall face foward. She hears as everyone's "oh's" at her fall but she shuts it out completely, only now noticing a huge wall. </p><p>She looks at it in disbelief and gasping for air, slowly looking around and seeing the place blocked by those huge walls.</p><p>xxxxx</p><p>She is thrown into a small hole with bamboo as bars. 'A cell' she thinks. She gets up from the ground and moves to the door to look out seeing animals and people.</p><p>"Hey." Someone says causing her to stumble back in a hurry to the corner of the cell and sees a man crouching down.</p><p>"Hey there, Green bean." The man says. "You're not gonna run again. Okay?"</p><p>She only pants and keeps staring at the man. </p><p>"Good." He smiles. He opens the cage and steps closer. "My name is Alaric." He pauses. "Can you tell me anything about yourself? Who you are? Where you came from? Anything at all." </p><p>She fiddles with her fingers, looking down at the ground.  "No." She whispers.</p><p>"Can you tell me your name?" Alaric asks.</p><p>She keeps her eyes on the ground but begins to panick. She starts panting again. </p><p>"I, uh, I can't remember anything." She says glancing at Alaric. "Why can't I remember anything?"</p><p>"It's okay." He says but then he sees her panicking. "Hey, relax. Relax. It's normal. It happens to all of us. You'll get your name back a about a day or two. Then you'll slowly start to remember your family. That's about it." He pauses. "It's the only thing they let us keep."</p><p>After hearing that she looks up at him scared. </p><p>"What is this place?" She asks.</p><p>Alaric smiles and sticks his hand out for her to grab. "Let me show you." He says.</p><p>Hesitantly she grabs his hand and lets him pull her out. They begin to walk around as he tells her about the place.</p><p>"We eat here. We sleep here. Grow our own food. Build our own shelter." He turns around to look at her. "Whatever we need, the Box provides it. And the rest is up to us." </p><p>"The Box?" She asks looking back at the place where she came from. </p><p>"Yup. It's sent up once a month with fresh supplies and a new Greenie. And this month that's you. So congratulations." Alaric says amused. </p><p>She glances at him and the Box confused. "Sent up? By who, though? Who put us here?" She asks.</p><p>Alaric shakes his head. "That, we don't know." </p><p>"Hey, are you alright, Alaric?" A voice says from the side. They both turn to look and see a boy with an afro.</p><p>"A-ha! Green bean, meet Milton, Mg as he likes to be called. When I'm not around he is in charge." Alaric says.</p><p>"Well, it's a good thing you're always around then." Mg chuckles turning back to look at her. "That was some dash you made earlier. For a second I thought you had the chops to be a runner... Till you face-planted." </p><p>Alaric and Mg laugh. "That was great." Alaric says.</p><p>She looks at him questionably and confused. "Wait a "runner"?" She asks.</p><p>Alaric looks back at Mg ignoring her question. "Mg, do me a favor and go find Pedro." </p><p>Mg nods and goes away leaving her and Alaric alone. </p><p>"Listen I'm sorry to rush this but you came up a little late and there's a lot to do." Alaric says seriously. </p><p>She keeps glancing back at Mg to see where he is going but then turns to look foward so she won't fall, again. </p><p>"We got something special planned tonight. Yeah. You'll see." Alaric says guiding her to a tower that must be a watching place or something.</p><p>They climb to the very top and she looks out at everything around the place.</p><p>"This is all we got. We worked hard for it. If you respect this place, you and I will get along just fine." Alaric says smiling at her.</p><p>She keeps her eyes on the wall with an open passage way.</p><p>"What's out there?" She asks him curiously.</p><p>He looks at her seriously once again.</p><p>"Okay listen, we only have three rules. Number one, do your part. We don't like slackers. Number two, never harm another Glader. We have to trust each other for this place to work." He pauses and takes a deep breath,looking at her very closely. "And most importantly, Never go beyond those walls. You understand Greenie?" </p><p>She looks at him a little scared and serious.</p><p>"Hey Alaric." A kid voice says from the bottom of the watch tower.</p><p>They both look down and see a boy who looks about twelve years old. </p><p>"Haha, hey Pedro." Alaric says. Pedro smiles and waves looking up at them.</p><p>xxxxxx</p><p>Her and Pedro are in some shack where there are lots of hammocks on the trees. Pedro is tightening one for her while she keeps looking at the wall. </p><p>"It's basically the same story for all of us." Pedro begins talking. "Wake up in the Box, Alaric gives us the tour. And here we are." He says putting pillows in the hammock.</p><p>"Don't worry, you're doing better than me. I pissed my pants three times before they got me out of the pit." Pedro says. </p><p>He then looks back and sees her walking towards the wall. He quickly runs over to her and tries to stop her from going. </p><p>"Hey, where are you going? You can't go there." Pedro says.</p><p>"Don't worry, I just want to see." She says walking closer to the open passageway.</p><p>"You can look all you want, but do not go out there." </p><p>"Why not? What's over there?" She asks looking at him.</p><p>"I don't know. I'm just doing what I'm told. And we are not suppose to leave." He says seriously putting his hands on his hips.</p><p>She looks back at the camp quickly and then turns around to look at the passageway. She then sees a guy with curly blond hair and a brunette girl running out of the place. </p><p>She keeps her eyes on the brunette as they make their way past them. The brunette girl looks back at her and makes eye contact when she passes her. </p><p>"Hey Pedro. New Greenie huh? How does it feel to be promoted?" The guy with blond hair says. </p><p>"Feels great Roman." Pedro says. They watch them jog back to the camp.</p><p>"I thought no one was allowed to leave." She looks at Pedro. </p><p>"I said WE are not allowed to leave. They're different, they're runners. They know more about the maze than anyone." Pedro says.</p><p>She perks up at what he said. "Wait what? You just said "maze." </p><p>"I did?" Pedro asks.</p><p>"W-well yeah." </p><p>They both turn to look at the wall at the same time.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Runners.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Where are you going?" Pedro asks as he sees her walking closer to the passageway.</p><p>"I'm just gonna take a look." She says. Pedro puts a arm infront of her.</p><p>"I told you we can't. No one leaves, especially not now. It's not safe." He tells her.</p><p>She doesn't look at him and keeps walking closer slowly. </p><p>"Okay I'm not gonna go." She says when she sees the boy step infront of her. </p><p>She moves past him and moves a little closer looking in with her eyes furrowed.</p><p>"Hey!" A loud voice says.</p><p> She turns to look at the person but before she can react she gets thrown to the ground harshly. She looks up to see who it is and sees the same girl that took her out of the Box. </p><p>"We gotta stop meeting like this, Greenie." The girl says.</p><p>"Get off me!" She says harshly, kicking her to the side so she could get up quickly.</p><p>"Alright! Calm, calm, calm." The girl says putting her hands infront of her. </p><p>"Don't touch me!" She yells. Everyone hears the commotion and run over to them. </p><p>"Take it easy, take it easy! Just relax." The short haired girl said.</p><p>She stumbles around and looks at everyone running over to them. "What the hell is wrong with you people!?" She yells.</p><p>"Just calm down, all right?" Mg says </p><p>"No! Why won't you tell me what's out there huh?" She asks </p><p>"We are just trying to protect you. For your own good." Alaric says calmly. </p><p>She begins to panick once again. "You people can't just keep me here!"</p><p>"We can't let you leave." Alaric says trying to calm her down.</p><p>"Why not?" </p><p>They are interrupted by a loud sound from the walls. She turns around and feels a strong air come from the other side of the wall.</p><p>"What the hell?" She whispers to herself. She watches as the wall begins to close, shutting them in.</p><p>"Next time, I'm gonna let you leave." The short hair girl says walking away.</p><p>"Welcome to the glade." Alaric says from beside her.</p><p>xxxxx</p><p>It's already dark outside and they are starting some huge bombfire. All of them cheering and making music and talking.</p><p>She's honestly not in the mood for it. So she goes to sit by a log on the ground far enough to have some privacy. </p><p>Mg then comes to sit by her when he sees her by herself.</p><p>"Hell of a first day Greenie." He says glancing at her. She nods her head.</p><p>"Here. Try this." He hands her a jar of liquid.</p><p>She takes it and takes a sip but can't swallow it because man did that thing taste bad. She quickly spits it out groaning at the taste.</p><p>"Oh my god! What is that?" She coughs handing him the jar back. He laughs taking it back and looks at the liquid in it.</p><p>"Honestly, I don't even know. It's Penelope's recipe." He says glancing at the short hair girl.</p><p>"Yeah well, she's an asshole." She says rolling her eyes.</p><p>"She saved your life today. You know that. The Maze is a dangerous place." Mg says taking a sip of his drink.</p><p>Theres a moment of silence before she decides to speak up. </p><p>"Are we trapped here?" </p><p>Mg takes a deep breath, slightly nodding his head. "For the moment." He pauses to turn around and she follows his move. "But- you see those people." He points over to a group of boys and a girl. </p><p>"That girl in the middle there, that's Josette, Josie. She's the keeper of the Runners. And every morning when those gates open they run out there and map it, memorize it to try and find a way out." Mg says looking at her.</p><p>"How long have they been looking?" She asks keeping her eyes on the pretty brunette. </p><p>"Three years." Mg says. </p><p>That's when she takes her eyes away from the brunette and looks at him. </p><p>"They haven't found anything?" She asks.</p><p>"It's not that easy. Listen..." Mg says and they go silent to hear a bunch of rocks colliding and moving. "That's the maze. It changes every night." </p><p>"How is that possible?" She whispers.</p><p>"I don't know. But listen the Runners are the only ones who really know what's out there. They are the strongest and the fastest of us all. And it's a good thing because if they don't pass those gates before they close....then they are stuck out there for the night. And nobody survives a night in the maze." Mg states.</p><p>"Why not?" Shs asks curiously.</p><p>"We call them Grievers. No one has ever see one except Josie over there. She got stuck out there one night. Shocked everyone when she came out alive." Mg says. </p><p>She glances back at the brunette who is playing with a knife before turning back around.</p><p>"Ok, that's enough questions for tonight. Come on guest of honour." </p><p>She doesn't want to get up but can't do anything about it when he pulls her up so she just joins him. They begin walking around and he points out to different groups of people.</p><p>"And here we got Landon, he's the keeper of the Slicers." He points to a group who is laughing. </p><p>"And we got two med-jacks." He points at the two guys walking past them.</p><p>They stop walking when she asks the questions she's been wanting to know.</p><p>"And what if I wanna be a runner?" She asks.</p><p>"Have you not heard a word I've said. No one wants to be a runner. And besides you have to get chosen." Mg says. </p><p>"Chosen by who?" She asks but then gets bumped foward by someone.</p><p>She straightens up and wipes the dust off her hands. Penelope looks at her. </p><p>"What do you say Greenie? Wanna see what you're made of." She asks walking back into the cirlce of people.</p><p>Everyone begins to chant "Greenie" and she looks around at them with hesitation. She takes a moment before she walks into it. </p><p>"Here are the rules. I try to push you out of the circle and you try to last more than five seconds."  Penelope says walking around her a d everyone laughs.</p><p>"Ready?" Penelope asks and when she nods, Penelope launches herself at her, pushing her back. </p><p>She is caught by a bunch of people and pushed foward to Peneople who throws her to the ground. </p><p>She gets up and coughs out the sand in her mouth before getting back up.</p><p>"Come one Greenie, we're not done yet." Peneople says shuffling backwards a little. </p><p>"Stop calling me Greenie." She says dusting herself off and making everyone go quiet.</p><p>"What do you want me to call you? Shank?" Peneople asks and everyone bursts out into laughter.</p><p>She launches herself at Penelope and pushes her hardly but gets thrown off to ground. Josie watches with her arms crossed and a serious expression.</p><p>She quickly gets back up and rushes at Penelope again pushing her hard, making her fall to the ground. </p><p>Josie looks at her impressed as well as everyone else. Everyone but Josie and Alaric laugh when she suddenly get kicked and falls to the ground hardly, hitting her head on the ground. </p><p>"Hope." She whispers to herself.</p><p>"Hope. Hey!" She says getting up. </p><p>"Hope!" She yells. Everyone looks at her confused.</p><p>"I remember my name. I'm Hope!" She exclaims.</p><p>"Hope!" Alaric yells and everyone begins to cheer. She sighs in relief of finally knowing her name. </p><p>"Welcome home, Hope." Rafael cheers handing her a jar. </p><p>She drinks it but spits it out in the air not being able to drink the damn thing.</p><p>"Good job....Hope." Peneople says.</p><p>They get quiet when a loud noise echos the place. They all look at the wall. </p><p>"What the hell was that?" Hope asks slightly scared.</p><p>"That my friend, was a Griever. Don't worry though, nothing gets through those walls." Peneople says.</p><p>"Alright everyone. To sleep. Come on." Alaric orders. </p><p>Everyone goes to their shacks and get in there hammocks to go to sleep.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The changing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hope gets awoken by her name getting called and is about to scream but gets cut off by a hand on her mouth. </p><p>"Hope. Come with me." Alaric says shushhing her.</p><p>She gets up and follows him. They walk over to a part of the a side of the wall full of names. He hands her a knife and gestures for her to carve her name on it. </p><p>She sees a bunch of peoples names scratched out.</p><p>"What happened to those?" She asks.</p><p>"Bad thing's have happened here. Those people didn't survive out here." Alaric says. </p><p>Hope glances at him and turns back to the wall, putting the knife on it and starts carving.</p><p>After, she has to go do her part and help around.</p><p>"Has anyone ever tried climbing to the top?" Hope asks, digging her shovel to the ground.</p><p>"Tried it. The ivy doesn't reach to the top. And besides where you gonna go from there." Mg says. </p><p>"And what about the Box. Next time it comes up..." </p><p>"No, we tried it. The Box won't go back down with someone in it." He says.</p><p>"Okay, what if we..." </p><p>"No we tried it. All right? Twice. Anything you think of, we already tried. Only way out is through the maze." Mg cuts her off again.</p><p>"You wanna be helpful..." Mg pauses. "Go dig us up some more fertilizer." Me says throwing a small basket at her. She walks away and goes to the woods.</p><p>"Just get the fertilizer, Hope." She whispers to herself. "Are you sure guys, I can't help in any other way?" </p><p>She keeps walking in the middle of the woods but stops when she sees a grave. She looks at it carefully but gets freaked out when she sees a bunch of bones around her. </p><p>She walks back but flinches when she sees Roman standing behind her.</p><p>"Uh, Roman right. Are you okay?" She asks when she sees him acting kinda wierd.</p><p>She falls back when he jumps at her and she tries to get him off of her.</p><p>"Get the hell off of me!" She yells pushing him off. </p><p>She gets up and runs as fast as she can over to the camp. </p><p>"Help!!!" She yells coming into the camp. She gets knocked down by Roman once again. </p><p>Everyone runs over to get him off and Mg swings the shovel across his face knocking him off. A bunch of guys then keep him down by grabbing him.</p><p>"What the hell happend?" Alaric asks.</p><p>"I don't know. He just attacked me." Hope pants putting her hands on her knees. </p><p>Alaric gets closer to Roman and immediately knows what happened. Roman starts to freak out when he sees Alaric standing there.</p><p>"Lift his shirt." He orders and they follow command. </p><p>When his shirt is lifted they see a hole with black, purple lines all around it stretching through his body.</p><p>"No! No! Please!!!" Roman yells.</p><p>"He's stung. In the middle of the day?" Peneople asks Alaric. He looks at her before looking back at Roman.</p><p>"Put him in the pit." Alaric orders. </p><p>They all grab him and take him to the pit. Hope watches them confused and scared. Roman's scream filling the air.</p><p>"What happened to him?" Hope asks Alaric when they are sitting on a table.</p><p>"It's called the changing. It's what happens when you get stung." He says getting up. </p><p>"What are you gonna do to him?" </p><p>Alaric doesn't answer and walks away. </p><p>xxxxxxx</p><p>Later that day everyone is surrounding the gates with sticks and poles. Waiting for Roman to come.</p><p>Josie is dragging him by a rope and knees him down infront of the gates. She looks over at Alaric and waits for the nod.</p><p>When she gets it, she throws a big in there and waits for the wind to come. Once the gates begin to close they start pushing him in with the poles.</p><p>Roman fights and pushes back but is to weak so he just walks to the other side of the wall. When they close everyone stays quiet for a few minutes before walking away. </p><p>Hope watches as Josie stays and stares at the gates.</p><p>It's dark out soon and she goes to her hammock to sleep for the next day. </p><p>When she wakes up she sees Josie and Alaric run into the maze when the gates open. She gets up and goes to do her chores with Mg.</p><p>After about a few hours she sits on a tree with Pedro as Mg cuts a standing little log.</p><p>"I mean why does Alaric have to go? He's not even a Runner." She asks.</p><p>"Alaric knows what he's doing. Alright? He knows better than any of us." Mg says continuing to cut the wood with a machete. </p><p>"What does that even mean?" Hope asks.</p><p>Mg huffs in frustration. "Every month the Box sends up a new arrival. But someone had to be first. Right? Someone spent a whole month in this place alone. That was Alaric." Mg explains. </p><p>Hope looks at him for a few mintues and gets up to help cut the wood.</p><p>They do that for a whole and then see a storm come in so they all go under a shack. They keep an eye on the gates waiting for them to return.</p><p>"They should be back by now." Rafael says.</p><p>"What happens if they don't?" Hope asks.</p><p>"They'll make it." Mg states. Hope looks at him. "What happens if they don't?" She asks.</p><p>"They're gonna make it." </p><p>They wait for the storm to wash away and when it does they all walk over and wait by the gates to see if they make it.</p><p>"Can't we send someone after them?" Hope asks.</p><p>"It's against the rules." Peneople says crouching down. "Either they make it back or they don't." </p><p>"We can't lose anyone else." Mg says. </p><p>They feel the strong wind blow against them signaling the gates are about to close.</p><p>"Oh no" Pedro says.</p><p>"There!" Hope yells pointing out. </p><p>They hear Josie groaning and then see her walking with difficulty.</p><p>"Wait, something's wrong." Mg states. They look closer and see Josie dragging Alaric.</p><p>"Come on, Josie you can do this!" Pedro yells. Everyone begins to scream the same thing.</p><p>Hope stares and when she sees the gates about to close she runs through them.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Whole lotta stubborn ass Hope</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The last one.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hope and Josie spend a night in the maze. The glade gets worrying news.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hope watches as the gates close before getting up and turning to look at Josie who is kneeling down and panting.</p><p>"Great Job...you just killed yourself." Josie breathes out. </p><p>Hope stares at her trying to process what she just said.</p><p>"What??" She pants.</p><p>Josie just falls back to sit on the ground trying to catch her breath. She looks at Hope when she moves over to Alaric who is laying on the ground.</p><p>"What happened to him?" Hope asks.</p><p>"What does it look like?" Josie says. "He got stung." </p><p>"What happened his head?" </p><p>"I did what I had to do." Hope looks at her for a second.</p><p>"Are you okay?" She asks. Josie nods looking at her. "I'm fine. Come one we have to hide him." She says standing up. </p><p>They pick him up and start walking. After a while they put him down to breath for a moment and then they hear the loud noise of the Grievers. </p><p>"Come on,  we have to do this fast. Now." Josie orders. Hope points at the wall and Josie turns around to see it filled with ivy.</p><p>Hope grabs Alaric while Josie finds an ivy strong enough to hold him. When she does, they tie him up and start pulling him up.</p><p>By the time they get him half way up, it's already dark and they hear the other side of the wall open. Josie glances at it and quickly ties the ivy. </p><p>"We gotta hide. Now!" Josie exclaims. </p><p>"Behind the ivy." Hope suggest. Josie looks down at it and back at the Griever. She quickly nods and they both get under it. </p><p>Josie's breath hitches in her throat when Hope lays on her side in front of her making them face each other. Hope gasps a little to loud when she hears the Greiver behind her. </p><p>Josie puts a hand over her mouth, putting her finger over her own lips telling her to stay quiet. She pulls her closer in case it heard her.  Hope stares at her, breathing heavily.</p><p>Josie's eyes widen at how close the Griever is and holds her breath. She has spent a night out here before on her own. It was scary but she managed to survive. Right now she is a little scared because Hope is with her and she doesn't want anything to happen to her. </p><p>When the Griever leaves, the two girls get out and start walking slowly. </p><p>Hope then steps on some type of sticky stuff and then feels it fall on her shoulder. Josie immediately pulls her away when the Griever falls from the top. </p><p>"Run!" Josie exclaims grabbing Hope by her hand and pulling her.</p><p>They run as fast as the can turning corners and when they get caught in front of a dead end,  Josie quickly looks and finds a way up the wall. </p><p>"Jump!" Josie orders putting her hands together to lift her up. Hope then helps her up and they run. Josie, already knowing the place, jumps to the other side while Hope stops and runs back.</p><p>"Just jump Hope!" Josie yells. </p><p>Hope looks behind her and sees the Griever coming up so she runs and jumps landing beside Josie.</p><p>As if an instinct Josie turns over so she is covering Hope's body with her own right when the Griever jumped on the wall. </p><p>It tries to sting them but Josie moves them so it would miss. The ivy they are on suddenly starts ripping and they fall to the ground.</p><p>Hope helps Josie stand up and the two began running. Josie leads the way and finds the side that is changing. </p><p>"Come on! It's down through here."  Josie starts to make her way but gets pulled back.</p><p>"Wait! What if we led it through there when it's about to close so we can kill it?!" Hope suggests.</p><p>Josie looks at the Griever and sees it getting closer.</p><p>"Now!!" They run as fast as the can.</p><p>Josie pushes Hope infront of her so she could get out first. She stumbles but quickly composes herself looking up at Hope who is already on the other side.</p><p>"Run!" Hope yells. </p><p>Josie looks back and sees the thing right on her back. She runs faster. </p><p>"Josie!!!!"" Hope yells, hearing the wall close.</p><p>xxxxxxx</p><p>The gates open. Pedro and the rest are waiting on the other side. </p><p>"I told you Pedro. They're not coming back." Mg says. Everyone begins to leave. </p><p>"No way." Wade says looking back into the maze. Pedro turns around as well as everyone else.</p><p>"Yeah!!" Pedro exclaims seeing Hope and Josie coming back with Alaric around their arms. </p><p>They put Alaric down once they step out of the maze.</p><p>"You saw a Griever?" Pedro asks the two girls.</p><p>"We didn't just see it. We killed it." Josie breathes heavily. </p><p>Everyone stops and looks at them in disbelief.</p><p>xxxxx</p><p>They are in the little house that they use for meetings to dicuss the consequences of Hope's actions.</p><p>"Things are changing." Peneople starts. "There's no denying that." She looks around. "First Roman gets stung in the daylight and then Alaric. And then out Greenie here has taken upon herself to go into the maze. That is a clear violation of our rules here."  </p><p>"Yeah but she did save Alaric's life." Rafael says.</p><p>"Did she though?" Peneople asks. Everyone stay quiet. "She has to be punished." She continues.</p><p>"Josie. You were out there, what do you say?" Mg asks looking at the girl.</p><p>Josie looks at Hope who is staring at her and she gives her a small smile.</p><p>"I say we make her a Runner." Josie says.</p><p>Peneople scoffs. "A Runner? Seriously Jo." </p><p>Josie looks at her with a serious expression and Penelope walks closer to face her. Josie doesn't back down. They get interrupted by a noise coming from outside. </p><p>They all walk out and Josie runs over to the Box that's coming up. Everyone follows her. </p><p>"The Box. It's coming back up." Pedro says.</p><p>"It shouldn't be." </p><p>They all surround the Box and wait for a minute before they open it. When they do they see a blonde girl on the cage. </p><p>"Lizzie??" Josie whispers jumping down into the Box. Everyone looks at her confused.</p><p>"It's my sister." She says looking up at them. They all nod in comprehension.</p><p>"What's that in her hand?" Hope asks.</p><p>Josie looks down and sees a paper rolled up in her hand. She pulls it out and unfolds it.</p><p>"She's the last one....Ever." She reads aloud. She looks up at them with a scared expression, then looks back down at her sister laying there.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This is my favorite part of the movie. </p><p>Anyways I just finished movie number 1 so now I'm starting the 2nd one.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The key.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hope, Josie, and a few others go back into the maze to check out the dead Griever.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mg, Josie, and Hope walk into the infirmary to see if Lizzie woke up already. Hope hears gunrts and heavy breathing to the side so she turns around to see Alaric tied up to the bed. </p><p>"Jeff, what's going on?" Josie asks causing Hope to turn around.</p><p>"What's the matter with her? Why won't she wake up?" Mg asks.</p><p>"Hey man, I got my job the same way you did." Jeff says holding his bag.</p><p>Josie crouches down and moves a strand of hair out of Lizzie's face. She looks at her and suddenly her mind goes to the note. </p><p>As if she read her mind, "What about the note?" Hope asks.</p><p>"We'll worry about that later." Mg states.</p><p>"No, she's right. That not says that Lizzie is the last one. The Box hasn't been sent down. What does this mean for us?" Josie says getting up. </p><p>"I don't know. We'll have to talk about it in the next meeting." Mg says.</p><p>"Okay, come on." Josie pulls Hope out of the infirmary. Mg follows.</p><p>"Wait where are we going?" Hope asks. </p><p>"We are going back into the maze." </p><p>Hope stops walking. She looks at her like she's crazy. It's late and if the gates close they are stucm out there and she does not want to go through that again.</p><p>"Look Hope, you wanna be a Runner right?" Hope nods firmly. "We this is me choosing you to be a Runner. All the others quit after what happened to my dad but you still want to keep going. I respect that. You aren't an offical Runner until you complete your punishment though." </p><p>"Okay. Well what are we gonna do?" </p><p>"I was hoping that you'd tell me." Josie says. Hope looks at her and thinks for a minute. </p><p>"We should go see the Griever that we killed yesterday." Hope says. Josie looks at her hesitantly. "It's the first one that's been killed. Mg told me you've been locked out there before but you never killed one. Now we have, so we should disect it or whatever, and see what we can find."  </p><p>Josie thinks about it for a solid second. She really doesn't want to see that thing after last night but this could be a new lead.</p><p>"Alright. Meet me in the woods in half-an-hour." Josie says walking away. Hope stands there and watches her leave.</p><p>xxxxx</p><p>Hope is leaning on the shack waiting for Josie to come. She hears multiple footsteps so she quickly straightens up and looks at the way were the footsteps are coming from.</p><p>She relaxes when she sees Josie turn the corner along with three other guys. Rafael, Landon, and Alyssa. </p><p>"Will this be enough?" Josie asks. Hope looks at them and nods her head. "Okay. Lets go." </p><p>They jog out of the woods and make their way over to the gates. They stop for a second before running in. </p><p>Josie leads them towards where they killed the Griever. Everyone stops when they see it's leg sticking out of a wall and see brains and guts splattered everywhere. </p><p>"That's disgusting." Alyssa says holding her shovel. Rafael and Landon look at her quickly agreeing. </p><p>"There's something in there." Hope says looking closer. </p><p>"You mean besides a Griever pancake?" Rafael asks.</p><p>They all look closer and Josie sees a little red light beeping inside the wall. She walks over to the hole in the wall where the Griever is squished.</p><p>"Whoa, what are you doing?" Alyssa asks concerned. </p><p>Josie glances back at them before sticking her hand in the wall. She digs her hand in there to try and get whatever the light is coming from. She looks inside the hole and breathes heavily when she sees the Grievers face but keeps digging.</p><p>The metal leg of the Griever moves causing Josie to quickly pull her hand out and and she stumbles back. Hope catches her and pulls her back from the wall.  </p><p>"I thought you said it was dead." Rafael says.</p><p>"Was it a reflex?" Alyssa asks. </p><p>Landon looks at her breathing rapidly. "You hope." </p><p>"Let's try and pull it out." Hope says moving to grab the leg. </p><p>Josie grabs the leg from the top and the other three follow along. They all pull hard and fall back when it comes out. They all quickly stand up and Josie walks over to the leg looking at the ground.</p><p>She slowly picks up a brian looking thing where the red light is beeping. She pulls the thing out and slightly groans when it comes out with all this gooy stuff. </p><p>"What the hell is that?" Hope asks.</p><p>Josie wipes off all the goo and looks carefully at it. Theres a number seven in the small window looking thing and the words and number "WCKD 9643821" under it. </p><p>"Intresting." Josie says.</p><p>"Okay. Whatever that is, can we take this up back at tbe Glade because I don't want to meet this guys friends." Rafael says slowly walking backwards.</p><p>"He's right. It's getting late. Come on." Josie says starting to jog and everyone follows closely.</p><p>xxxxxx</p><p>They're in the meeting center showing Mg and Penelope the thing they found. </p><p>"We found this inside a Griever." Hope says.</p><p>"These are the same letter we get in our supplies." Mg says looking up at them.</p><p>"Yeah. Whoever put us here obviously made the Grievers." She says.</p><p>"And this is the first real clue, the first anything, we've found in over three years." Josie adds. </p><p>"We gotta go back out there, Mg. Who knows where this might lead us. This could be the key out of here." Hope pleads looking at him.</p><p>Mg looks over at Penelope who looks at him a little pissed.</p><p>"You see what she is trying to do, right? First she breaks our rules and then tries to convince us to abondon them totally. Wha- the rules are the only thing that has ever held us together. Why now are we questioning that? If Alaric was here he would agree with me and you know that. She needs to be punished." Penelope states. </p><p>Josie gets up and walks over to Penelope with a serious "I could kill you right now" face. </p><p>"You don't know what my father would want. I do. And he would want us to find a way out of this shit whole we have been living in for years!" Josie yells shoving her by the shoulder.</p><p>Hope steps up and pulls Josie back so she wouldn't do anything stupid. </p><p>"Okay, okay. Penelope is right. She broke the rules. So, one night in the pit with no food." Mg states.</p><p>"Oh come on Mg! One night in the pit?! Do you really think that's going to stop her from running back into the maze?!" Penelope yells.</p><p>Josie makes a move to go to her and knock the life out of her but is stopped by Hope's firm hold on her arm. Josie looks back and sees Hope's small smile. She swears she has never seen anything so cute.</p><p>"No. And we can't just have non-Runners running into the maze whenever they feel like it. So lets just make this official. Starting from tomorrow, you're a Runner." Mg informs.</p><p>"Wow." Penelope scoffs walking away. </p><p>"Penelope..." Rafael tries to stop her.</p><p>"No, Raf." She says leaving the meeting area.</p><p>When she leaves Josie smiles and turns around to hug Hope. Hope gladly returns it and holds on to her happily. Josie lift her up and spins them in a circle before putting her down. They pull away to look at each other and Josie blushes. Hope smiles at that.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Josie protecting Hope..... I think so 😉</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Night In The Pit</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Lizzie wakes up. Hope spends the night in the pit.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoy!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Josie and Hope are walking in the woods playing around. Hope enjoys the presence of the brunette. Josie makes her feel happy. She is strong, brave, fast, loving, sweet, and honest. Hope likes her. A lot.</p><p> They are pretty far from the Glade making Hope a little curious.</p><p>"Where are we going?" Hope asks.</p><p>"You'll see." Is all Josie says. </p><p>They soon make it to another shack that Hope hasn't see before. Walking in she sees a round table with a sheet over if and a bunch of numbers and maze drawings. </p><p>Josie watches as Hope looks around for a second before pulling the sheet off of the table. Hope turns around and sees a maze on the table.</p><p>"It's the maze." Josie says leaning on the table. "All of it." She adds.</p><p>Hope looks at her surprised and confused. "What do you mean "all of it"? I thought you were still mapping it." They stay silent for a minute. </p><p>Josie sighs deeply. "There's nothing left to map. I've ran every inch of it myself. Every cycle. Every pattern. If there was a way out we would've found it by now." </p><p>Hope shakes her head not wanting to believe it. "Why haven't you told anyone this?" </p><p>"It was my dad's call. People needed to believe we had a chance of getting out." She pauses and walk over to Hope. "But maybe now, we have a real chance."  She says handing Hope the key.</p><p>"Take a look at this."  She points at the maze on the table. "About a year ago we started exploring these outer sections and we found these numbers, printed on the wall." She says pointing to the rocks with numbers.</p><p>"Sections 1-8. See, the way it works, is every night when the maze changes, it opens up a new section. So today section 6 was open. Tomorrow will be 4, then 8, then 3. The pattern always stays the same." She says.</p><p>Hope looks at her, then at the key and back to Josie.</p><p>"What's so special about seven?" </p><p>"I don't know. But last night when we killed that Griever, section seven was open. It's probably where it comes from. Tomorrow you and I are gonna go take a closer look." Josie states.</p><p>The get interrupted by Jeff and another guy who come running in. </p><p>"Hey! What are you guys doing? You're not allowed in here." Josie informs. </p><p>"Sorry, it's just the um. It's Lizzie." Jeff says breathing rapidly.</p><p>"What is she awake?" Hope asks.</p><p>"You can say that." The other guy says.</p><p>Hope and Josie look at each other for a second before storming out and running back to the Glade. They run over to where the chaos is and see rocks being thrown off from the watch tower.</p><p>"Hey throw one more of those things... Ow!" Penelope yells. </p><p>"I don't think she likes us very much." Mg says hiding under a shield with Landon.</p><p>"Wait! It's me Josie!" Josie yells blocking herself from the rocks. </p><p>Everything stops and goes quiet. Josie makes her way up the watch tower and sees the blonde girl sitting in a ball.</p><p>"Hey. It's me." Josie says moving closer to her sister. </p><p>"Where am I? What is this place and why can't I rememver anything?" She asks. </p><p>"It's normal. Okay? We've all been through this. You'll get your name back in a day or two. And then everything about your family-" </p><p>"My names Lizzie. And you're my sister. Twin to be exact." Lizzie states. </p><p>"Yeah. You remember." Lizzie nods. </p><p>"Everything okay up there?" Penelope asks.</p><p>Josie gets up and looks over the railing. "Everything's fine just give us a second." </p><p>Penelope scoffs, walking away. Everyone else follows and get back to their chores.</p><p>xxxxx</p><p>""She's the last one." That's bad isn't it?" Lizzie asks. </p><p>"Yeah. The Box hasn't gone down and we don't know how long we are going to last with what we got." Josie says looking out in the Glade. </p><p>They stay quiet for a second before Lizzie speaks up. "I found these in my pockets when I woke up." She says pulling out two syringes.</p><p>Josie grabs them and looks at them. She sees the same four letters. W.C.K.D. written on them.</p><p>"Wicked is good." Josie says looking down at them.</p><p>"What if we were sent here for a reason." Lizzie says. </p><p>Josie then looks at her, eyes wide. "Dad." </p><p>She gets up and runs down with Lizzie close behind. They run over to the infirmary and Josie gives the syringe to Mg. </p><p>"We don't even know what this is or who sent it. For all we know it could kill him." Mg says</p><p>"Damn it Mg, he's already dying. Look at him." Josie points at the bed. "How could this possibly make it any worse?"</p><p>Mg looks at Alaric and sighs heavily. "Okay. You do it." </p><p>Josie grabs the syringe but doesn't get the time to stick it in him because he grabs her by the shirt roughly. Hope pulls her away and quickly grabs the syringe, sticking him with it. </p><p>"Hey. It's time Greenie." Penelope informs walking in the infirmary.</p><p> Hope looks at Josie who nods softly. Penelope walks out and Hope follows.</p><p>"Hey, what is your problem with me?" Hope asks the raven haired girl.</p><p>"Everything started going wrong the minute you showed up. First Roman, then Alaric, and then the note." </p><p>"Penelope, you do know we can't stay here forever. Right?"</p><p>Penelope doesn't say anything and opens the pit door open and gestures for her to go in. Hope jumps down and is soon surrounded by darkness. </p><p>A few mintues of sitting there staring,  she hears footsteps. </p><p>"Who's there?" She asks.</p><p>Pedro then comes into view with a candle. "Just me." He says sitting down.</p><p>"Sorry, Pedro." </p><p>"Here. You'll run better with a full stomach." He says handing her a drink and some food in a napkin. </p><p>Hope takes the food and sighs in relief tasting it. "Thanks Pedro." She mumbles, mouth full. </p><p>He smiles at her then turns his attention to something in his hand. Hope looks at him with curiosity.</p><p>"Hey, what you got there?" She asks. </p><p>He quickly turns to face her not realising he zoned out. He moves closer to the bamboo bars and shows her the person his made of wood a few days ago. </p><p>"Wow, that came out pretty damn good." She whispers. "What's that for?" </p><p>"It's for my parents." He says looking back at the figure. Hope gives the boy a small smile and he returns it. </p><p>"What do you think you're gonna find out there tomorrow?" Pedro asks looking at the gates.</p><p>Hope takes a moment to answer because she doesn't know. She shakes her head "I- uh I don't know. But if there's a way out Pedro, me and Josie are gonna find it." </p><p>Pedro stays silent for a moment to look at the figure once again. He than hands Hope the figure. "Here." </p><p>Hope takes it slowly and looks at it. "Pedro, why would you give this to me?" </p><p>"Maybe if you find a way out, you can give it to them." He shurgs saddly.</p><p>He gets up and take his things walking away. Hope looks down at the shape and then watches Pedro. </p><p>"Hey, Pedro. Come here." He walks back over to her and crouches down. "Put out your hand." </p><p>He puts his hand out and Hope puts the figure in it, closing his small hand around it. "I want you to give that to them yourself. We're gonna get out of here. All of us. Okay? I promise." She says. </p><p>Pedro gives her a whole hearted smile before getting back up and walking away. Hope leans her back to the wall and takes in the darkness that surrounds her once again. </p><p>About half-an-hour later she hears footsteps once again, so she leans foward to see who it is and sees Josie walking over. </p><p>"Hey stranger." Hope smiles. Josie sits down and smiles at her. </p><p>"Hey. Did Pedro bring you the food?" She asks.</p><p>"Yeah. You knew about it?" </p><p>Josie chuckles. "Who do you think told him to come here?" </p><p>"My hero." Hope says softly. </p><p>They stare at each other for a few mintues, getting lost in their eyes. Hope reaches her hand out of the hole from the door and Josie grabs it gently interwining their fingers without hesitation. </p><p>"You have soft hands." Josie whispers a few minutes later with a small smile while she rubs her thumb on the back of her hand. </p><p>Hope gives her a sweet smile. "Thanks. You have some strong ones but they are soft as well." </p><p>Josie blushes a little and Hope can see it because of her facial expression. Hope giggles a little and squeezes her hand softly.</p><p>"We should get some sleep." Hope whispers. Josie looks at her and gives a soft nod. Not wanting to let go, Hope pulls her down real quick and gives her a kiss on the cheek before releasing her hand.</p><p>She laughs when she sees Josie still crouching there with her eyes wide in surprise. She quickly composes herself.</p><p>"Ehem. Goodnight Hope." Josie says looking at the girl with soft eyes.</p><p>"Goodnight Josie." Hope smiles sweetly. </p><p>With that Josie gets up and walks away leaving Hope in the darkness alone, again.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope is always making Josie flustered. Lol.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Section 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hope and Josie check out section 7 in the maze. Alaric wakes up.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next evening, Josie goes over to the pit and crouches by Hope's.</p><p>"Big day, Hopey." She says. Hope giggles at the nickname. "Are you sure you don't wanna sit this one out?" Josie asks.</p><p>Hope shakes her head. "Come on Jo, get me out of here." </p><p>She gets her out and gives her the equipment she needs which is basically just a vest type of thing. They walk over to the gates and wait for them to open. Josie looks at Hope and smiles before running in.</p><p>"Let's go!" She exclaims. Hope watches her run in with amusement and excitement before following.</p><p>They make a lot of turns and Josie keeps glancing back to make sure Hope is following. </p><p>"This way. Not much further to the inner ring. Let's go!" She says taking a left. </p><p>They run and run fast. Hope watches as they pass the wall with a huge number 5 on it then another with a 6 on it. </p><p>They stop running when they reach the section 7. They walk and look around the entire place. </p><p>"That's strange." Josie breaths out.</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"This section is not suppose to be open for another week." Josie says.</p><p>"What the hell is this place?" Hope asks as they walk into a place with these plate looking things.</p><p>"We call then blades." </p><p> They start jogging foward until they hear a beeping noise. They look at each other confused before Hope realizes what it is. She quickly turns Josie around and pulls out the key that is now beeping. </p><p>Hope moves it around and it beeps louder when she turns it a certain direction.</p><p>"I think it's showing us the way." She says looking back at Josie. </p><p>They walk in the direction where it beeps louder. It leads them to a vault. </p><p>"Josie, have you seen this place before?" Hope asks looking around. "Nope."</p><p>They walk all the way to the end of the vault where there is a wall. </p><p>"Ugh, It's just another dead end." Josie says.</p><p>The beeping sound suddenly turns off and Hope looks down at the buzzer seeing the color change from red to green. As soon as it turns green the wall behind them move up, showing a small tunnel at the end.</p><p>"Are you sure about this?" Josie asks looking over at Hope.</p><p>"Nope." She says but they still walk through but stop outside the small tunnel. </p><p>Josie looks in it and sees all that goo, she is very familiar with. She wipes it from the wall with her hand to make sure.</p><p>"Grievers." She says and then they hear a nosie from the tunnel.</p><p>A red light flashes up and down at them. They look confused but then they hear a loud metal clanging. </p><p>"What the hell was that?" Hope asks.</p><p>Both of them look in the tunnel but stumble back when they hears a loud noise. One that Josie knows all to well.</p><p>"We gotta get out of here." She says. "Give me the key, give me the key!" She yells as they begin to run. </p><p>"Move, move!" </p><p>They run as everything begins to shut down. They stop for a moment at the end of the vault. </p><p>"We gotta go. Run Hope!" </p><p>They run through the blades that are starting to close. Hope gets stuck on one side so she runs as fast as she can to try and pass them so she can get to Josie. </p><p>The walls and ground begin to break and fall off. They run though the closing door and Hope almost gets squished but makes it out fine.</p><p>They fall to the ground breathing heavily and panting. Josie looks up and sees the closed wall before laughing a little.</p><p>"Oh!" Hope breathes out, dropping her head back on the ground.</p><p>xxxxx</p><p>They walk out of the maze and see everyone waiting on them.</p><p>"What the hell's going on out there?" Mg asks.</p><p>"What the hell you done now, Hope?" Penelope asks.</p><p>"We found something, a new passage. We think it could be a way out." Hope says.</p><p>"Really?" Mg asks looking at Josie.</p><p>"It's true. We opened a door, something I'd never seen before. I think it must be where the Grievers must go during the day." </p><p>"Wait! Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're saying you found the Grievers' home? And you want us to go in?" Pedro asks.</p><p>"Their way in could be our way out Pedro." Hope says.</p><p>"Yeah, or there could be a dozen Grievers on the other side. The truth is, Hope doesn't know what she is doing, as usual." Penelope says from the back of the group. Hope has enough and she snaps.</p><p>"Yeah, at least I did something, Penelope. I mean what have you done? Aside from hide behind these walls all the time?" </p><p>"Let me tell you something, Greenie. You've been here 3 days, alright? I've been here 3 years!" Penelope yells getting in her face. Josie puts a hand on her shoulder as a warning to not lay a hand on Hope. </p><p>"Yeah, you've been here 3 years and you're still here, Penelope! What does that tell you? Maybe you should start doing things a little differently." </p><p>"Maybe you should be in charge, what about that?" Penelope says pissed off. </p><p>"Hey, It's Alaric!" Lizzie yells from the side. They all turn to look at her. "He's awake." </p><p>They make their way to the infirmary and walk in to see Alaric sitting on the bed with his arms wrapped around him.</p><p>"Has he said anything?" Josie asks. "No."</p><p>"Alaric." Mg says. "Alaric, are you alright?" </p><p>He doesn't say anything and his lip quivers as if he was about to cry. </p><p>"Hey dad, we might have just found a way out of the maze." Josie says crouching down to look him in the face. "Do you hear me? We could be getting out of here." </p><p>"We can't" Alaric whispers shaking his head. "We can't leave. They won't let us."</p><p>"What are you talking about?" Hope asks from behind Josie. </p><p>"I remember." He says. </p><p>Everyone looks at each other confused as to what he mean by that.</p><p>"Remember what dad?" Lizzie asks.</p><p>Before he could say anything,  they hear everyone freaking out outside. They all quickly run out to see what the chaos is.</p><p>"Hey, Landon.  What's going on?" Josie asks.</p><p>"The doors. They won't close." He says running off somewhere.</p><p>Josie and the rest run over to the gates to see what is going on. They watch but don't see anything on the other side. Their ears getting rammed by some loud, loud noise. </p><p>Everyone looks around and see the other doors opening and birds flying away.</p><p>"This is bad." Josie whispers to herself. "Okay. Pedro, go to the Council Hall a d start barricading the doors." She orders. </p><p>"Landon and Lizzie, go with him." Mg says. They nod and runn off with Pedro.</p><p>"Get the others. Tell them to go to the forest. Go hide, now!" Penelope yells at one of the guys.</p><p>Josie grabs Mg and pulls him aside real quickly. "Mg, I need you to go grab all the weapons you can find. I'll meet you at the Council Hall." Mg nods and grabs a few of the people for help. </p><p>"Okay, Hope stay with me. We are going to go get my dad alright?" Josie says grabing her hand. </p><p>Before they turn to leave, they see the people from the other door run and scream. They then hear a animalic noise from their side of the doors. Three Grievers appearing on the other side.</p><p>"Alright, everybody hide!!" Josie yells</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. It's an offering</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Grievers attack the Glade.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They all run off except Hope who is standing as still as possible infront of the doors watching the Grievers with horror.</p><p>"Hope!" Josie yells. "Come on! Run! Run!" She yells grabbing Hope's hand and pulling her away. </p><p>They run into the corn field and duck down to hide, staying quite. The sounds of people screaming filling the air. </p><p>"Shhhh." Josie whispers putting a finger over her mouth. </p><p>They get startled by the sound of someone getting snatched from close by. Then one of them get snatched. </p><p>"Ahhh!"</p><p>"Wade!!" Josie screams moving to help him but it's to late.</p><p>"Go! Go to the village!" They all get up and run out of the corn field and to the village. </p><p>Penelope opens the Box and jumps in along with a few other people. She closes the top and they stay quiet. </p><p>"Penelope! Let me it! Let me in!" Someone yells from outside. </p><p>Penelope moves to open the Box but is to late. She watches as one of the Grievers throws the girl away making her close the top back up. </p><p>xxxxxx</p><p>"Dad!" Josie yells, running over to Alaric.</p><p>"What's going on?"  He asks. </p><p>"They're here." She says. "Grievers?" She nods and turns around to see one of the Grievers eat someone.</p><p>"Josie what do we do?" Hope asks holding on to Josie's shirt tightly.</p><p>They watch as people start getting dragged away all around them. </p><p>"Everybody run, run, run!!" Josie yells.</p><p>They run over to the Council Hall but get blocked by a Griever. It's about to attack when Hope grabs a jar with fire and throws it at at the Griever, setting it on fire. </p><p>They run past it but it quickly manages to get rid of the fire and is now following them. Alaric falls and Jeff quickly helps him up. </p><p>"Come on!" Josie yells at the Griever that's about to attack them. </p><p>It suddenly gets attacked by spears and Josie turns to see Mg and the rest. They all run over to the Council Hall and get in. They turn off the lights and stay quiet, watching the Griever surround them. </p><p>It sticks its tail and breaks the log that holds the ceiling, throwing them all off to the walls. They all get up and make sure they are okay.</p><p>One person gets dragged away and the Griever breaks through ond of the walls grabbing Pedro. </p><p>"Pedro!" Hope yells running over and pulling him down. Everyone helps her try and pull him back from the Grievers hold.</p><p>"Pedro, don't let go!" Josie yells.</p><p>"No shit!!!" Pedro yells.</p><p>Alaric watches and then sees a machete beside him. He grabs it and gets up, repeatedly hitting the Grievers tail causing it to let Pedro go. </p><p>"Pedro you okay?" Hope asks.</p><p> "Yeah I'm fine." He grabs the stinger that Alaric broke off of the Griever. "Thanks Alaric." He says. Alaric gives him a nod.</p><p>"Dad! Watch out!" Lizzie yells but is too late, the Griever already grabbing him. </p><p>Hope runs over to help him but doesn't have much luck. "Hope, get them out." He says to her. </p><p>Right as Josie was about to grab him,he lets go and the Griever pulls him away.</p><p>"No!!!! Dad!" Josie yells.</p><p>"Josie-" Lizzie says but doesn't finish as Josie runs out of the Council Hall. </p><p>"No, Josie don't go out there!" Hope yells. "No, Josie, wait!" </p><p>They get up and follow. When they step out they see nothing in view. Only the disaster the Grievers caused. </p><p>"Where's everybody?" Rafael asks.</p><p>"Who's that over there?" Pedro points over to the people walking over. </p><p>They watch as Penelope and two other walk over. Josie notices that she is quickly making her way over to Hope so she puts herself in front. </p><p>"Get out of my way Josie!"  Penelope yells. Josie gives her a stern head shake. </p><p>Penelope has enough and pushes her out of the way punching Hope right in the jaw. Josie then tackles Penelope to the ground and starts punching her without mercy. </p><p>She feels two sets of arms grab her and pull her off. She watches a bleeding Penelope grab her face in pain then looks at her shaking bloody knuckles.</p><p>"Touch her again and I won't hold back." Josie threatens.</p><p>She turns over to see the two people that came with Penelope grabbing Hope. </p><p>"Hey! Take your hand off of her or I swear-" </p><p>"Josie. It's over. She's done here. This all happened the second she got her. She has to go." Penelope says. </p><p>Josie is about to walk over and probably kill her, when she gets knocked out. </p><p>xxxxxx</p><p>Josie wakes up in the pit with Hope holding her. She slowly gets up and looks at Hope then sees Mg, Lizzie, and Pedro crouching by the bars.</p><p>"What happened?" She groans rubbing her head.</p><p>"Penelope has taken control. She said we have a choice. Either join her or get banished at sundown with you." Lizzie says. </p><p>"And the other's agreed to that?" She asks standing up. </p><p>"Penelope has the others convince that I'm the reason all this has happened." Hope says looking down. </p><p>"Hey, you're not the reason for any of this. I would know because I remember everything." She says.</p><p>"What do you mean?" Mg asks furrowing his eyebrows.</p><p>"Whoever hit me did it pretty hard. It brought my memories back. And this place, it's not what we thought it was. It's not a prison. It's a test." She pauses. </p><p>"It started when we were kids. They'd give us challenges. They would experiment on us. And then people started disappearing. Every month, one after the other, just like clockwork." She says.</p><p>"They were sending them up to the maze." Mg says. Josie nods. </p><p>"We need to get out of here." Hope says. </p><p>"Yeah. You should lead us Hope." Josie suggest. "Finish what you started. I mean you found a way out. I believe in you. And I know that you're gonna get us out." </p><p>"Okay." Hope says grabbing Josie's hand. "But I want you with me. We did this together. We found this way out, together." Josie gives her a smile and nods. </p><p>"Okay. But we gotta get through Penelope first." Josie says. </p><p>Mg, Lizzie, Pedro, and Hope look at each other and smile mischievously. </p><p>xxxxxx</p><p>Hope is being pulled to the doors and Josie is getting dragged by two of Penelope's workers. Josie is pretending to still be knocked out while Hope still has the bruise from her punch. </p><p>They drop Josie on the ground as Penelope makes her way over to them. </p><p>"This is such a waste." Penelope says. </p><p>They stay quiet to look at each other. Hope looking at her with fire in her eyes. </p><p>"Penelope..." Landon starts. "This doesn't feel right." </p><p>Penelope looks at him like she didn't understand what we was saying.</p><p>"Yeah, what if Hope was right? Maybe she can lead us home." Alyssa says </p><p>"We are home." Penelope says walking over to them. "I don't wanna have to cross out any more names off that wall." </p><p>"You really think banishing us is gonna solve anything?" Hope asks. </p><p>Penelope shakes her head. "No. This isn't a banishing. It's an offering." </p><p>Hope looks at her scared. "What? Wait! Penelope, what are you doing?!" Hope yells as her hold her ties her up to the pole. </p><p>"You really think I'm gonna let you back into the maze after what you have done. Look around you! Look at our Glade! This is the only way. And when the Grievers get, what they came here for everything goes back to the way it was." </p><p>"Are you listening to this?! Why are you a just standing there? She's fucking crazy!!" Hope yells looking at everyone around.</p><p>"Can you shut up." </p><p>"If you stay here, the Grievers will come back. They are gonna come back and they will keep coming back. Until you are all dead." Hope says.</p><p>"Shut up! Shut up! Tie her up!" Penelope orders. Nobody moves. "Did you not hear me? I said tie her up!" </p><p>They move to pick her up and that's when Josie elbows the guy in the stomach and punching the other guy down. Hope kicks her holder in the balls as Mg points a machete at Penelope to stop her. </p><p>"You are full of surprises aren't you?" Penelope asks looking at Hope.</p><p>"You don't have to come with us, but we are leaving. And anyone else who wants to come, now is your last chance." Hope states.</p><p>"Don't listen to her, she's just trying to scare you." </p><p>"No, I'm not trying to scare you. You're already scared. Alright. I'm scared. But I rather risk my life in there then spending the rest of it in here. We don't belong here. This isn't our home. We were put here, trapped here. Out there we have a choice. We can make it out of here. I know that." Hope says with her voice trembling. </p><p>No one says anything. Landon just walks over to their side followed by Alyssa and everyone else who wants to join them. </p><p>"It's over Penelope. Just come with us."</p><p>There's a moment of silence.</p><p>"Good luck against the Grievers." Penelope says. </p><p>They turn around and Josie starts leading them through the maze.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. The Flare</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The survivors make it out of the Maze, but are told news that could change their lives.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hope you enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>"Everybody! This way." Josie says turning a corner. </p><p>They run through every section until they make it to section seven. They sprint over to the wall and Josie peaks around to see a Griever standing infront of the wall. </p><p>She leans back on the wall quickly breathing heavily. Hope grabs and squeezes her hand.</p><p>"Is there a Griever?" Pedro asks. "Yeah." </p><p>"You take this Pedro and stay behind us." Hope says giving him the key.</p><p>"It's okay. Just stick with me." Lizzie pants looking at him.</p><p>"Once we're through it'll activate and the door will open. We stay close, we stick together, we get through this. We get out now or we die trying. Ready?" Hope says grabbing her stick. She looks at Josie and nods.</p><p>"Alright. Let's go!!" Josie yells and they all turn the corner and run towards the Griever.</p><p>They start fighting it and pushing it with thier sharp poles. It takes a swing at them with it's tail and grabs one of them. It drops his tail right infront of Lizzie and she swings at it with her machete.</p><p>The key flies out of Pedro's hands. </p><p>"The key!!" He yells running after it before it fell of the edge.</p><p>"Pedro! Watch the edge!" Lizzie yells. </p><p>Pedro catches it right as it was about to fall but he sees a Griever coming up his way. Lizzie grabs him and pulls him up. </p><p>The others manage to throw the Griever off but don't notice the other two that just came up.</p><p>"Hope! Hope!" Pedro yells running over to them.</p><p>"Pedro?" Hope looks over to see the two Grievers behind Lizzie and Pedro. </p><p>They all keep fighting as Pedro and Lizzie make their way last the wall and into the small tunnel. </p><p>"It won't open!" Pedro yells.</p><p>Lizzie then sees a red circle with 8 numbers appear on the wall. </p><p>"Josie! There's a code! Eight numbers!"  Lizzie yells.</p><p>"8 sections in the maze." She says to herself. "7! 1! 5! 2! 6! 4!-" </p><p>She gets cut off by a Griever that falls on top of her.</p><p>"Josie!" Hope yells.</p><p>Josie groans loudly trying to get it off of her. "Get off of me!!!!" </p><p>Jeff then goes and stabs it with a stick and the Griever eats him. The other Grievers make their way towards them.</p><p>"What's the sequence? Come on!" Pedro yells.</p><p>"Uh- 6! 4! 8! 3! You got it?" Josie asks.</p><p>Lizzie presses the circle in the middle making the entire thing turns gree and the words "complete" appear on top. </p><p>The Grievers then get squashed by the walls and they suddenly get dropped down. </p><p>xxxxxx</p><p>A door opens and they all walk out of where they are. They see a long tunnel lights turning on all the way. Everyone starts walking until they see a door with a green light on the side and a exit sign on the top.</p><p>"Seriously?" Rafael chuckles.</p><p>Josie opens the door slowly and goes in seeing dead people everywhere. They all follow her and see bullets and blood all over the walls.</p><p>"So they were watching us." Mg states looking at a computer with the maze on it. "This whole time." </p><p>Hope looks around and sees a flashing button on a computer. She presses it and then a video of a woman shows up. </p><p><em>"Hello. My name is Katherine Pierce. I'm Director of Operations of the World Catastrophe Killzone Department. If you're watching this, that means you have successfully completed the Maze trials."</em> The woman, Katherine, says. </p><p>They all walk over to where the video is playing and Hope grabs Josie's hand as they watch it.</p><p><em>"I wish I could be there in person to congratulate you but circumstances seem to have prevented it. I'm sure by now, you must all be very confused, angry, frightened. I can assure you that everything that's happened to you,  everything we've done to you, was all done for a reason."</em> She says.</p><p><em>"You won't remeber but the Sun has scorched our world. Billions of lives lost to fire, famine, suffering on global scale. The fallout was unimaginable."</em> The video played different scences of what was happening in the world outside.</p><p>
  <em>"What came after was worst. We call it the Flare. A deadly virus that attacks the brian. It's violent, unpredictable, incurable. Or so we thought. In time, a new generation emerged that could survive the virus. Suddenly there was a hope to find a cure. Finding it won't be easy." </em>
</p><p>Everyone looks at each other scared and worried as the lady on the screen kept talking.</p><p><em>"The young would have to be tested, even sacrificed inside harsh environments where the brain activity could be studies. All to understand what makes them different. You are different. You are important."</em> She pauses.</p><p>
  <em>"Unfortunately, your trials have only just begun. As you will no doubt soon discover, not everyone agrees with our methods. Progress is slow, people are scared. It may be to late for us, for me, but not you." </em>
</p><p>They watch as everyone in the video get shot up and killed while the lady keeps talking. </p><p><em>"The outside world awaits. Remember-"</em> she takes out a gun and pulls it to her head. <em>"Wicked is good."</em> And with that she pulls the trigger. </p><p>Josie turns around infront of Hope, blocking the screen so neither of them could see. She then notices the ladies dead body on the ground. </p><p>A door opens and they see light from the other side of the double doors. </p><p>"She said we were important. What are we supposed to do now?" Mg asks.</p><p>"I don't know. We go home I guess." She says</p><p>Mg smiles and everyone giggles. Hope jumps into Josie's arms and holds her tightly.</p><p>"We're getting out." Josie whispers pulling back a little.</p><p>"Yeah. We are." Hope says staring deeply into her eyes.</p><p>They don't know who did it first but soon both of them were leaning in and meet each other half way. Their lips connect in a soft, slow kiss. </p><p>They pull back once air is needed and laugh a little.</p><p>"Come on. Let's get out of here." She says grabbing Hope's hand and begin walking. </p><p>"No." A voice says from behind them. They turn around quickly to see Penelope standing there with a gun. </p><p>"Penelope?" Hope asks walking closer. "Don't." Josie says putting and arm infront of her.  "She's been stung." </p><p>"We can't leave." </p><p>"We did. Penelope we're out." Hope says. "We're Free." </p><p>"Free?" She scoffs. "You think we're free out there? No. No, there's no escape from this place." Penelope says lifting her gun. </p><p>Josie steps infront of Hope so she wouldn't get shot. Hope grabs her shirt tightly, scared.</p><p>"Penelope, you're not thinking straight. We can help you."  Josie says. </p><p>Mg slowly grabs the stick Rafael is holding behind him, getting ready to throw.</p><p>Hope turns around so she is infront of Josie when Penelope pulls the trigger and shoots. Josie's eyes widen and fill up with tears. </p><p>The second Penelope pulled the trigger, Mg through the pole right into her chest. Killing her. </p><p>Hope doesn't feel anything. No pain, no nothing. She turns around when a hand grabs her shoulder and she sees Pedro's shirt start soaking up blood.</p><p>"No, Pedro, no." Hope says in disbelief as she grabs him and helps him lay on the floor. He grabs her hand and puts something in it closing her hand around the thing.</p><p>The doors behind them open and armed men start pulling them out of the place. Hope stays with Pedro crying and holding onto him tightly with Josie holding her from behind.</p><p> Two men then pull each of them off and drag them outside and over to a helicopter. Josie sits by the window and Hope in between her legs since it's small and there's a lot of people on. </p><p>"Don't worry, you're gonna be fine. Everything's gonna be okay now." The man with a gun says. </p><p>Josie glances at him before looking out the window and seeing the entire maze. She holds onto Hope tightly while Hope stares at the figure Pedro gave her. </p><p>She didn't know what was going to happen now but she hoped that they would be okay. But one never knows.</p><p>xxxxxx</p><p>Katherine walks around a table with people while she wipes the blood off of her head where she "shot" herself. She stands at the end of the table looking at the people.</p><p>"Well, I think it's safe to say the Maze Trials were a complete success." Katherine says taking off her white jacket. </p><p>"I wasn't expecting so many survivors, but the more the merrier. Hope continues to surprise me and impress and for now, they seem to have taken the bait. It's too soon to say but they could be the key to everything. So lets move foward. It's time to being, phase 2." She smiles.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The second movie, aka my favorite, begins next chapter! Yay, I been waitin for it.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. The Sanctuary</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The group arrives at a sanctuary.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <br/>
  <strong>
    <em>Flashback</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>Hope is in her mom's arms as she pushes through people begging for help. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Remember, I love you. I love you Hope." Is the last thing her mother says before a guard takes her away. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Mommmm!!!!" She yells looking at her mother kneeled on the floor.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>They put her in a bus and she sits there looking at all the gaurds and kids sitting in there. She looks away when a guard turns to look at her. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Hope. It's okay." A brunette lady in white clothes says to her.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Once again she wakes up in a cage gasping for air. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"No no no!" She yells pulling and bagging at the sides. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Hope! Hope!"  She hears a voice from far away. She looks up and a bright light blinds her. </em>
</p><p>xxxxxx</p><p>Hope wakes up to Josie screaming her name and shaking her awake.</p><p>"Wake up! We gotta go! Come on!" Josie says getting dragged by a man with a gun.</p><p>"Let's go! Let's go! We gotta go!" On of the men say helping her out of the helicopter. "Are you all right? Are you all right?" He repeats as they start walking. </p><p>"Wait, wait, wait!" Hope yells going back to the helicopter and looks for the figure that Pedro gave her. </p><p>"Get outta here!" The man says once she gets the figure. </p><p>Hope gets dragged away when the men start shooting at people in the sand mountains. She sees a bunch of other men come out and start shooting as well. </p><p>They all get locked inside this military looking base. Hope looks around and seeing people everyone. </p><p>A group of people come and take them into a messy room with food and boxes all over the floors. After an hour or two the door opens and they are greetes by a man with brown hair. </p><p>"You kids doing all right?" He asks. They get up and stand infront of him. "Sorry about all the fuss. We got ourselves in a bit of a swarm." </p><p>"Who are you?" Josie asks. </p><p>"I'm the reason you are all still alive and I intend on keeping you that way. Now, come with me. We'll get you kids squared away." He says walking away. </p><p>They hesitate for a second before following the man. </p><p>"My name is Kai Parker. But you can call me Mr. Parker. I run this place. For us it is a sanctuary, safe from the horrors of the outside world. You all should think of it as a way station. Like a home between homes. Watch yourselves." He points to the sparks falling from the top. </p><p>"That mean you taking us home?" Hope asks moving to catch up with the man.</p><p>"Of sorts. Sadly there wouldn't be much left of wherever you came from. But we do have a placd for you. A refuge, outside the Scorch, where WICKED will never find you again. How does that sound?"</p><p>They all look at each other suspicious of the man. </p><p>"Why are you helping us?" Josie asks.</p><p>"Let's just say the world out there is in a rather precarious situation. We're all hanging on by a very thin thread. The fact that you kids can survive the Flare virus makes you the best chance of the humanities continued survival." He pauses standing outside a door. </p><p>"Unfortunately, it also makes you a target, as no doubt by now you've noticed. Beyond this door lies the beginning of your new lives." He swipes a card that opens the door. They see a long hallway with nothing but lights.</p><p>"First things first. Let's do something about that smell." He smiles looking at them. </p><p>They get taken to the bathrooms where they have showers and they all get excited. They all hop in the showers enjoy the feeling of finally being under warm hot water. </p><p>When they all get through the people take them to the lab. </p><p>"Uh, what is that?" Mg asks a man who is holding a needle. </p><p>"Just a little cocktail. Calcium, folate, vitamins A through Z." He responds. "Pretty much everything you've been deprived of out there. Try to relax."  </p><p>The man lifts Mg's sleeve and sticks the needle in his arm.</p><p>Josie is getting tested on her speed on a treadmill while Hope gets her blood taken. </p><p>"You sure you got enough there?" Hope asks sarcasticly at the man. She then sees a woman walk by. </p><p>"Evening, Dr. Carwford."</p><p>"Good evening. How are the new arrivals holding up?" The lady asks.</p><p>"So far so good." The man says getting up from his chair. Hope watches as the lady walks over to Lizzie's bed. </p><p>"You must be Lizzie."  She says closing the curtains. </p><p>A man then comes to stand in between her and Josie, who is still running. "Hope? Josie?" </p><p>"Yeah." Josie says slowing down.</p><p>"Come with me please." </p><p>Hope and Josie share a look before following the man out of the lab. The man brings them into an interrogation room, closing the door once they are inside. </p><p>Josie walks over to Hope and wraps her arms around her. Hope wraps her arms around Josie's waist, burying her face in her chest and sighing in content. </p><p>Josie rests her chin on top of Hope's head and closes her eyes, rocking them side to side slowly. </p><p>"Mmmm. How are you feeling?" Josie whispers not wanting to break the moment. </p><p>"Better. You?" Hope asks slightly tilting her head up to bury her face in the crook of Josie's neck and planting a soft kiss there.</p><p>"I'm alright." Josie says.</p><p>The door opens and Kai walks in. They pull away from each other and go sit in the chairs.</p><p>"Hope. Josie. Thank you for seeing me." He says pulling back his chair.</p><p>"Sorry for the inconvenience. I was just hoping we might get a moment to chat in private, away from the others." He says sitting down. "Well, I won't take much of your time. I only have one question. What do you both remember about WICKED?" He asks.</p><p>"Not much. Just that they out us in that maze." Josie responds harshly. Hope notices in the tone of her voice so she puts her hand on Josie's thigh giving it a gently squeeze to calm her. </p><p>"Okay. Why do you think you got put in the maze?" Kai asks. </p><p>"I don't know. How about you ask them before you kill them." Josie responds dropping her fist on the table. </p><p>"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." He says getting up. "Enjoy the rest of your stay."</p><p>"That's it?" Hope asks. </p><p>"Yeah. I know everything I need to know. You and your friends are all cleared to join the others. Soon you'll all be moving onto greener pastures." Kai says opening the door.</p><p>"Wait. Others?" Josie asks curiously. </p><p> </p><p><br/> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And so it begins</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Lucky Bastards</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The two girls get led to the cafeteria where there are a bunch of other people. Teenagers like them.</p><p>"Hey guys." Rafael says walking up to them.</p><p>"Raf, what's going on?" Josie asks looking around.</p><p>"We weren't the only maze. Come one." He says leading them to their table. Hope sits and Josie stands behind her. </p><p>"And there was this big explosion, and these guys came out of nowhere. Started shooting up the place. They pulled us out the maze and brought us here." Some guy says.</p><p>"What about the rest? The other people left behind in the maze, what happened to them?" Mg asks.</p><p>"I don't know. I guess WICKED still has them." The guy says. </p><p>"How long you guys been here?" Rafael asks.</p><p>"Not long. Just a day or two. That kid over there has been here the longest." He says looking over at a kid sitting alone with a hoodie on. "Almost a week."</p><p>"His maze was nothing but girls." The other guy says </p><p>"Really?" Josie asks in disbelief.</p><p>"Some guys have all the luck." He says. Josie was about to say something else when they get interrupted.</p><p>"Good evening, gentlemen. Ladies." Kai greets walking in with a clipboard.</p><p>"You all know how this works. If you hear your name called please rise in an orderly fashion, join my colleagues behind me, where they will escort you to the eastern wing." </p><p>Kai lifs the top of the clipboard and starts calling names. When he gets done everyone gets discouraged.</p><p>"Now, now, don't get discouraged. If I could take more, I would. There's always tomorrow. Your time will come." Kai says taking his leave. </p><p>"Where are they going?" Josie asks.</p><p>"Far from here. Lucky bastards." The guy says.</p><p>"It's some kind of farm. A safe place. They can only take in a couple of people at a time." The other guy states.</p><p>xxxxxx</p><p>The group gets taken down to a room full of bunk bed and lockers. </p><p>"Oooh, I got top bunk." Rafael says but gets beaten by Landon who is already sitting on top. </p><p>"Too slow."  He laughs.</p><p>Lizzie lays on the bottom of another bunk and Mg goes to the top. Alyssa takes the top of another bunk while Hope and Josie share the bottom one.</p><p>"I could get used to this." Lizzie yawns. </p><p> While they are all asleep Hope and Josie stay up talking to each other. They are laying on their sides looking at each other. Josie has her hand under her head and Hope does too. Hope's free hand is drawing small circles on Josie's arm while Josie's free hand is playing with Hope's.</p><p>They start plsying tik-tak-toe on Josie's arm. Hope places a circle in a corner and Josie places an X in the middle. Hope slaps her arm slightly for it making Josie chuckle.</p><p>"Cheater." Hope whispers.</p><p>"Nope. You're just mad I'd win." Josie whispers scooting closer. She leans up on her arm and looks down at her. </p><p>She leans down and connects their lips in a soft kiss. Hope then flips them over and straddles Josie's hips. They hear the sound of metal creaking in the room that causes them to break away.</p><p>Josie sits up with Hope still in her lap and she looks around with her eyebrows furrowed. Hope moves off of Josie when the brunette starts moving. Josie looks under the bed and sees the boy from the cafeteria that was sitting alone.</p><p>"Oh my god." Josie whispers. The boy shushes her and that's when Hope looks down as well. </p><p>"Come on. Follow me."  The boy says crawling back into the ventilator. </p><p>Josie looks at Hope who shurgs before the two crawl under and into the ventilator, following this kid. It takes them a while and a few turns before they end up looking out of the ventilator.</p><p>"What the hell are we doing?" Josie whispers to the kid.</p><p>"Shhh. Come here." He says. Josie scoffs before walking over to him.</p><p>They look down and see the woman from the lab being followed by other doctors. They see her walking into a room with bodies in bags on tables.</p><p>"What the hell was that?" Hope asks.</p><p>"They bring in new one's every night like clockwork." He says.</p><p>"Do you know what they do with them?" Josie asks. He shakes his head.</p><p>"I don't know. The vents don't even go into that section. But once they go through that door, they don't come back out." He pauses. "I don't think anybody even really leaves this place." </p><p>Hope and Josie look at each other for a moment, trying to figure out what they just saw.</p><p>"Come on. We've gotta get out of here before anyone notices we're gone." He says.</p><p>"Wait. Why did you show us this?" Hope asks.</p><p>"Because maybe the others will listen to you. There is something weird going on here and I know you two think so as well." </p><p>"Hold up. What's your name?" </p><p>"Jeremy." He says disappearing into the vents.</p><p>Hope and Josie crawl back to their room and get settled back in bed. Hope cuddles into Josie. She doesn't want to sleep after what they just saw but her tired body wins. Josie on the other hand doesn't sleep at all.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry this took a while, I'm going to try updating at least twice a week.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Let me know what you think!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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